Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I Am Now In The Muffin Loop

I am so sick.

Of myself.

Do you know what I mean? I'm just fed up TO HERE with me. I feel boring, uninspired, whiny, ridiculous, apathetic, and just TOTALLY BLEH. I feel like white bread looks. Just meh. Seriously, I wish someone could just reach through this screen right now and slap me, wake me up. Or, bring me pills.

Is it a stage or something? Or am I seriously just this meh bleh eh meh? I look at my camera and shrug and go meh. I look at my stacks of cookbooks and think about what I could whip up with those babies and I go meh. I look at my dogs who want to go for a walk and I go meh bark bark meh. I look at my phone and think about all the peeps I could call for a chat and I go meh. It's just meh meh meh meh meh. Oh my god, someone pull my head out of my ass before I whine us all to death. What a snore I am!

I was just going to write "I can't seem to get hooked into anything lately!" - and I realized it wasn't quite true because you know what I thought of? Yep. Food. I don't feel meh when I think about sushi or good food or a blow-my-lid-off dessert. I get all squirrely and excited. So there you go - I thought of a non-meh thing. Gawd, let's throw a party. Throw back a shot of whisky. Run around the block naked, screaming "I LOVE SOUP" - just for the hell of it. See, now that would be exciting, wouldn't it? Or at least arresting, literally.

You know, I didn't have any real idea of what this ramble was going to be about but it actually came full circle for me, considering the recipe I'm going to toss out here. I was feeling meh and bleh a few weeks back - it was a Sunday morning and I decided to dig through my recipes to see what My Royal Boringness might throw together. Well, I came across a recipe I'd been meaning to make for MONTHS - it was from my dear friend, Joan, who comments here and she sent it to me ages ago. Why I waited so long, I cannot tell you. Just sheer idiocy.

Let me just ask you this: have you ever had a muffin melt in your mouth? No? WELL IT IS SO NOT MEH OR BLEH. So, if you've been feeling meh or bleh - I swear on my future grave you MUST make these muffins. MUST. Do it this weekend and don't look back. Swear to me now, NOW!

French Breakfast Muffins

I never knew a muffin could be so exciting. So simple, yet so exciting. Am I alone in this lack of knowledge? Does everyone else on the planet know the awesomeness of a dang muffin, but forgot to fully inform me? Whatever the case, these are incredible and I really mean it. I don't know why they're "French" and I don't care; I don't why they're called "Breakfast" because a person really should eat them all day long, as far as I can tell. I just tilted my head back in ecstasy because I just had a little muffin flashback. Well, better than an acid flashback, I suppose. Anyway, eat these warm - when warm, they pretty much just melt in your mouth and it's heavenly. You will have leftover melted butter and cinnamon sugar but FEAR NOT! Just tear off little pieces of muffin, dip in butter, then in cinnamon sugar, place in mouth and then think "Thank you, Ann's friend Joan, thank you". That's all.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Do NOT overmix; overmixing will ruin the texture of the finished muffins. Also? Don't overmix the batter. Finally, don't overmix. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I think you could get 10-12 muffins by distributing the batter a little less generously. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter (you can dip just the top, but it's even tastier to dip the whole muffin!), then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar. *May have left-over topping; the extra topping can be used for dipping, while eating the muffins (oh my). Another option is to cut the topping ingredients in half. CONSUME, ENJOY, GO CRAZY!

I've made something very similar before but called a cinnamon sugar donut. I used turbinado sugar instead of regular. Loved the added crunch! That's a great idea to use the left over cinnamon sugar & butter as a dip! Brillant!!

Hope you are premanently out of your funk, at least for a little while!~ingrid

Judging by my circles of the blogosphere, there's quite a bit of that going around. Seems as though overall activity is WAY down compared to say, a year ago. Maybe we're all growing up? Getting lives? Doing things that were available to us before there were computers? ; )

muffins may be my favorite thing to make--the possibilities are endless! your description of these makes them impossible not to try.incidentally, (shameless plug alert) they'd be perfect for my cinnamon celebration. :)

Ok first - I hope that comment you deleted was about your muffins. LOL. I can't say that word without giggling.

I love muffins! Heheehe, see?

My friend always saves her muffins at restaurants so she can ask "Can I have a box for my muffin?" and then we fall on the floor laughing hysterically - of course hoping in vain that they will call the people with the white jackets so we can get some good sheeet to go with the muffin. I know. We are 12.

Anyway, I would like an award for my patience as I remember a Tweet a while back about how you found the fourth dimension of the muffin... after I giggled I tweeted back that I NEEDED to know this information. Radio silence. I won't hold it against you because you have obviously ponied up here.

Your Meh and your Bleh are probably just old friends popping in for a visit. Like my MIL, I usually have to give those guys a specific time frame for their visit. That way I know how many pills I need to survive it.

This is part of an e-mail I just sent yesterday! "Bleh. I think I turned my light box off too soon this winter and am feeling a bit slumpy." So, it's goin around!

These muffins look divine as usual, and remind me of some little orange mini muffins that get dipped in butter and rolled in sugar - yeah, you get the idea! Anyway, thank you for the highly entertaining post!

dear ann, you have described what i failed to put in words of my feelings the past month. It's probably why i've been shopping so much and yet feeling pretty empty, useless and just 'bleagh' as you have so posted. it's pretty annoying since this lull doesn't really seem to be dissipating. anyhow, i baked some lemon poppy seed cake in hopes of 'reviving' myself (think reviving a dead body in ER) and it kinda worked for a bit but the effects have since worn out. Thankfully, these muffins are cheering me up much!! :D thanks ann! u're a star. xxx

I get meh days a lot too. I have all the stuff available to be creative, and, well, the sponge is dry so to speak. I love the look of these muffins, they look like a gorgeous baby that a cupcake mummy and a sugar doughnut daddy had! ;)

My girlfriend made these many years ago when she invited me to coffee. They were soo yummy. I will try these tomorrow. Big sigh here,,,, it is just the time of year, January and February are always "bleh" months in my book. But this too shall pass, spring is getting closer every day. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

You now what? I've been feeling like that too. My life is always the same. School, home, school, weekend then it starts again. I have to make these muffins. I LOVE MUFFINS! I really love muffins however I don't have a muffin pan thingy.Hmmm . . . . .

These muffins are awfully mouth-watering! And would keep me busy in the kitchen, again. My cousins are going to visit our place next week. I think this would be just perfect for them and these muffins sound so tasty.

I have made these muffins for years. I found the recipe in a Country Living magazine and they are called "Feather-Light Muffins".. These are unbelievably good. Friends and family constantly begged me to make them.

My family has made French Breakfast Muffins (Paris Puffins) from the Betty Crocker cookbook for over 30 years now. After my twin sister and I grew up and married, we both decided that the "muffin" in this recipe is a bit on the bland side of things, as far as recipes go, so we decided to do a remake of it.

Grease muffin cups (36 miniature; 12 regular; 4-5 jumbo). Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake 10-12 minutes for miniature muffins; 20 minutes for regular; 22-24 for jumbo, until edges are lightly browned and wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove immediately from pan or tip up so bottoms of muffins are exposed. (If muffins seem to stick in the pan, wait a minute or two and try tipping them up again.)

i just made these an hour ago they were yumtastic i added vanilla and cinnamon to the muffin mix i have two very picky kids in the morning and i'm hoping they eat these i've frozen some so we'll see how they do with that

i just made these and they were very good but they weren't as airy as i was hoping. Is the batter supposed to be more on the pie/cookie dough side or closer to a liquid like blueberry muffin mix is? any ideas for ideas to make them a bit lighter?

I've pinched this recipe and will try it. Next time you feel bleh, try making something for a person less fortunate than yourself., Life is NEVER bleh when you can do things for others....only when your life revovles around you.

Made these this afternoon after seeing on Pinterest, and they are every bit as simple and good as promised! The only change I made was to dip the entire muffin briefly in the butter as opposed to just the top. OhmyGod. The leftovers are fabulous heated for about 10 sec in the microwave. Thanks so much!

I have made these for years but they are called French Do-nuts in my cookbook. Only one thing different. Pour half the batter in the muffin cups add a spoon of jm and then the rest of the batter. Bake and dip and roll. Mm Mm good!

While doing my daily morning browsing of blogs I stumbled upon yours & I'm so glad I did. After seeing this recipe I decided I had to make it for my breakfast this morning. I posted my outcome on my blog & left a link for others to find the original recipe here! Thanks so much for sharing. It was DELICIOUS!!!http://sunshinelifelove.blogspot.com/

For the topping, a half cup of butter was a bit of a waste. I used 1/4 of a cup and still had leftover butter for dipping. Also, I made these as soon as I found the recipe this morning. And I am eating it now. So good!

Ok, the verdict is in! They taste suppppper good and are so delicious warm. The sugar topping can be tasted through the whole bite, and it really enhances the overall flavor (I think it would be kind of bland without it). I put them in for 20 minutes and they were perfect. Slightly softer in the centers, firm to the press on top, and golden along the rims.

Instead of nutmeg (which I didn't have), I used vanilla extract. The topping quantities need not be so much though, I had a ton of sugar and melted butter left over.

Hop over to my blog to check out the photos! Very good, easy to make, and a quick fix for our evening sugar craving.

I LOVED these. So simple and delicious... they tasted like donuts! My only tip is to mix them very gently and to not mix them at all once they're combined. Because I'm super OCD so I kept mixing them "just to be sure," and they turned out just a bit tough. As long as you don't mix them too much they're amazing! The perfect little breakfast treat. :)

This muffin was perfect! I saw it on pinterest and was really happy because I actually had all the ingredients I needed! I absolutely LOVE nutmeg... so I tried these right away. They were a little denser than I expected but sooo yummy. Thank you for brightening my day with these yummy muffins!

Tried your recipe & LOVED it! I'm going to double it next time because the only fault was that there weren't enough! :-) We posted it on our blog & linked back to you here if you want to check it out: http://www.ratetheplateutah.com/2012/01/eat-in-french-breakfast-muffins.html

The boyfriend is out plowing all the snow we got and left me on my day off to relax and bake. Can't wait till he comes home to these muffins (unless I eat them all). They are delicious and so easy to make. Thanks!

These were amazing! I did a couple without the 'dip' for my two year old and he loved them. I didn't have nutmeg so I used ginger, cinnamon, and cloves (3 equals parts that made 1/4 teaspoon). Next time I will be sure to have nutmeg! The texture was amazing! They practically melted in your mouth. Great recipe!

I made these today and the taste was not bad, but the were dry... and I only baked them for 20 minutes. The edges were barely brown... maybe with ice cream they would be good, but by themselves they were just ok.

My step-mom used to make these when we were little. I was always amazed at the way they simply melt in your mouth. I lost the recipe somewhere along the way, and she doesn't remember making them. I have been searching for this recipe for 2 decades as a result. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

These muffins... These muffins... They are bloody brilliant. Super simple to make, beautifully decorated with a cinnasugar mixture, and melt in your mouth like the butter so cleverly slathered upon their browned muffin tops. I was almost in a meh-rut, so caught up with doing well in school and creating a balance between school and social life. I'd forgotten the full-fledged pleasure I get from good food. How does that happen? By just grabbing anything that's simple or quick to make and eat instead of taking the time to mix sugar, butter and sugar to make homemade muffins rather than those just from a just-add-water package. These muffins lifted me from that rut. I am so overwhelmed with joy from something as simple as a muffin I just want to hug something. ANYTHING and make someone try a muffin! Thank you for sharing the recipe and thanks so much for relieving me of my impending life-rut. Magnificent, these muffins. -Donniesha Tank

yum yummmm! I was searching my Pinterest boards the other day to find something warm to make with my daughter on a cold, rainy day. I asked her to pick betwee: snickerdoodles (cinnamon cookies), cinnamon breakfast bites, or these 'cinnamon muffins' I called them. She chose these (smart girl) and they were awesome and soooo easy for us to whip up! Thanks for the recipe, I blogged about it here:

was feeling pretty "meh" myself lately as well.. stumbled upon this recipe via Pinterest. So glad I did! was very inspired :] good to know i'm not the only one with days like this.. keep your chin up :]

I made these today, but I didn't expect them to be so sweet--my sugar tolerance is really low I guess..:( I only used 6.5 tbs of sugar for the cake part, and I still thought it was too sweet. They weren't really melt in the mouth either? Did I do something wrong? :( But they went well with a glass of milk :] Gonna give these all to my sugar-loving dad! thanks for the recipe (:

I have made this type muffin for years. It's my kids favorit. My twist is to make them mini muffins and roll(and I mean a quick roll) them in melted butter and then roll them in a powdered sugar cinnamon mixture. Talk about melt in your mouth. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....oh sorry, I'm day dreaming.

I have a small business making muffins and scones and this recipe was a little different from any I had created so I was anxious to try it as is. OK, well I kept the base recipe the same except for adding 1/4 tsp cinnamon(next time I'd add more) and I topped with Sugar in the raw before baking (next time I'd also add chopped pecans). Then I made a cinnamon Maple glaze to drizzle over (powdered sugar, little milk, maple syrup, and dash cinnamon)! These had a good buttery texture, a little dense but very soft. Overall really good and not overly sweet.

These are really yummy! I made a few changed to make them much less fattening though. I cut out the oil completely and used unsweetened apple sauce instead and I replaced the sugar in the batter with splenda. (I still used real sugar for the topping). Also, for the topping instead of using butter I sprayed the muffins with fat free cooking spray and added some fat free butter flavor sprinkles to the cinnamon sugar mixture and then rolled the muffins. Really delicious and will definitely make them again!

I have just read the blog before your recipe and it was hilarious, made-my-day-funny, I don't care what the recipe is now I'll make it even if it contained offal :D thank you for making me realise I'm not the only one that feels meh

Oh...my...gosh!!!!! These are a little piece of HEAVEN!!! Definitely NOT meh!!!!! May be my new favorite sweet! We're having it for dessert after dinner! Made mini-muffins and got 17 easily! Thank you!!!!!

I made these this morning and although they smelled wonderful, they had the texture of biscuits! My boyfriend called them muffin-shaped biscuits :( but they were great with a spot of butter and jelly once the muffin tops were devoured. Thanks for sharing!

found your blog on pinterest:) and this awesome recipe!!! I already made them twice last week and there just toooo delicious!!shocking to say, this was my first time baking cupcakes and I was blown away at how they came out so perfect! loved them!

We love love love these muffins! However, my kids always have a hard time eating them because they come out so big. So today we tried them in our 24 count mini muffin pan and baked for about 15 min. They were much more managable to eat and still delicious! Thanks for sharing!

I tried this recipe this morning as I was having 15 women over and never baked before, the recipe seemed simple & straight forward so it was really encouraging! Anyhow, these turned out AMAZING!!!! The women raved about it & almost all wanted the recipe! Yayyyyy!!! Thank you for sharing, saved my butt!

Must have been fate that this showed up on my wall tonight. My Mom used to make these and she called them French doughnuts and I was thinking about that this weeken. Searched her recipe box and couldn't find it! I have been feeling meh all week ! She had a stroke a few years ago and I really miss cooking with herThank you!

Hi Felicia - that's such a good question, and I wish I could answer it for you :). I've never tried freezing them, but now I'm curious too...I will try it next time I make them. If you try it, please let me know - thanks!

So, you blogged this three years ago and here I am on a Friday night with PMS hormones raging and it's 8:30 and I'm contemplating making muffins... (Probably will just settle on my 3 year olds Halloween candy stash) - but I have PLANS for these bad boys... Which ironically enough I ACTUALLY have all the ingredients for - which tells me God WANTS me to make these... Tomorrow morning...

Well, I really do love muffins and this recipe looks really promising. But they cannot possibly be French : there is not such a thing as a French muffin (nor is French toast French in that respect). Muffins are part of the traditional British cuisine, and 10 years ago no one in France knew what a muffin looked or tasted like.

James - This is my friend Joan's family recipe, so I used the name of the recipe as it was written. I find that recipe names aren't always literal, but nonetheless have still earned the right to keep their original name, no matter their country of origin. If you do try them, I hope you enjoy! Maybe rename them British French Breakfast Muffins ;).

I just made these: pros: very easy and quick. Con: it only made 6 muffins so I'll need to double the recipe to feed my gang. I added 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the mixture as well as some sugar and cinnamon to the top of the wet batter before baking. (Skipped the dipping option. I'm 55 and don't need the extra butter on top that goes right to my middle.) Good but not incredible. I will make them again as I can't have soy and most breads and mixes have something I can't have in them so I need to do things the old fashioned way and "make it myself". I will continue to tweak the recipe as these are a bit plain for my palate.

I made these again with cake flour which has less gluten (I think that's right) cause the first time I made these, they got very gummy as I chewed them and were just a pretty gross consitency: a big blob in my mouth! I've had wheat flour do this too which is why I think it is the gluten. Cake flour was better. Any body else have any suggestions re: this gumminess? Pastry flour maybe?

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thanks for such a great recipe! I have had this bookmarked for sometime now and finally made it. it is such a simple recipe but delicious. They remind me of these cinnamon sugar donuts my mom used to buy from the local farm market when I was a kid. delicious. they even smell like them! My boyfriend is away on a rotation right now (we are in PA school) and I sent him a care package and these were in there...he loved them! I made a second batch for myself, naturally haha

I wrote a post on your muffins:http://www.sistersrunningthekitchen.com/2013/01/donut-muffins/

Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this informative article together. I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!

I am an avid baker, and these are a beautiful muffin with a delightfully light texture. As always I made some minor changes ... I substituted almond meal for a third of the flour, replaced 1/2 the millk with almond milk and added blueberries. i also added a couple pinches of cardamom to the topping mixture. I have to admit I never tried the original recipe. I made them two days in a row, as my family begged for more! Thanks for the inspiration.

Did you use a cupcake tin or a muffin tin? Because you keep saying muffins, so I'm picturing, you know, big muffins out of a muffin tin. I used a cupcake tin and barely got eight "muffins" out of this recipe.

Hi Loose Seal - I just use cupcake tins. I'm sorry you barely got 8 out of the recipe, I'm not sure why - I've never had that problem. If you do make them again, I hope they turn out perfectly for you. If you have actual muffin tins and try them, let me know how they turn out!

Found these on Pinterest and made them this morning for my husband's bday breakfast treat! We enjoyed them! I used a muffin tin and got 9 large muffins! (I filled them a bit more than I should have!) Thanks!

Hi there! I could have sworn I've visited this blog before but after going through many of the posts I realized it's new to me.Anyways, I'm certainly delighted I found it and I'll be book-marking it and checking back often!

My daughter makes these and sells them at the local Farmers' Market and everyone says they're "awesome", which they definitely are. She calls them "Dirt Bombs" but I don't know where the name came from!

First of all I want to say terrific blog! I had a quick question in which I'd like to ask if you don't mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your thoughts prior to writing. I've had a hard time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips?Cheers!

I too have been 'meh...' and so I started out on a quest to find some little morsel of breakfast excitement and viola! Here I am about to get out my favorite kitchen utensil - MY SIFTER!!!Thank you Ann and Joan.

ok... I just made this and the are AWESOME! I'm not a big fan of baked goods, cakes, etc. but THESE a sinfully delicious and I am not sure how I am going to refrain from eating them all in a frenzied binge! Thank you for sharing... my hips are not impressed though, lol...

ok... I just made this and the are AWESOME! I'm not a big fan of baked goods, cakes, etc. but THESE a sinfully delicious and I am not sure how I am going to refrain from eating them all in a frenzied binge! Thank you for sharing... my hips are not impressed though, lol...

Greetings I am so thrilled I foud your blog, I really found you by mistake, while I was researching on Google for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a tremendous post and a all round enjoyagle bpog (I also love the theme/design), I don't have time to read through it all at the minute but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds,so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the awesome work.

AHHH. My mom used to make these years ago.. and I never had the recipe. They are so good! Like, really THAT GOOD. I am so happy to have found this.. and your 'boring' post, which was very funny.. so thanks for both!